Street-sweeper



(No Model.) 4 N. B. MILLER & F. MOH-LE.

STREET SWBBPBR.

Patented Apr. Y13, 1897.

llnrrn rares NAPOLEON BONAPART MILLER AND FREDERICK MHLE, OF OMAHA,

' NEBRASKA.

STREET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,460, dated April 13, 1897'.

Application filed November 2, 1895. Serial No. 567,770. (No model.) I

To all 'Lo/tom it may cci/werft:

Be it known that we, NAPOLEON BONAPART MILLER and FREDERICK MoHLE, of the city of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Sweepin g Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, strong, and effective machine which will not only sweep the streets thoroughly,but will automatically load the debris into an or-` dinary wagon, to which the street-sweeping machine may be `readily connected. When one wagon has been loaded, it can be detached and driven to the dump, while another may be attached and loaded.

To this end and object our invention may be said to consist in the novel structural features and combinations of parts and devices which will be found hereinafter more fully described, and that will be more specifically pointed out and defined in the claims of this specification.

Mechanism embodying the. constructive forms of and showing the mutual relationship and combination of the parts forming the subject-matter of our improvements is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichn Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved street-sweepin g machine,lookin g from the rear and upon one side thereof and showing also the rear end of a wagon to which the sweeper is attached; Fig. 2, a side elevation of our improved machine with the side casing removed, and Fig. 3 a detail of the wheelhub ratchet and axle broken away. Figs. 4 and 5 are details of construction.

The frame is preferably made of two U- shaped iron plates l, connected by intermediate vertical posts 2 2 and 3 and by a forwardly-inclined U-shaped plate 4, which forms the frame of the elevator-trunk. rlhe two iron plates 1 are united at their rearends by the cross-piece Z, which extends Vacross above the rear end of the apron 18a. The rear end of the frame 1 is bowed and supports strapbearings 5,which provide journals for the ends of the main rear driving-axle 6, upon which the supporting and driving wheels 7 are loosely journaled. An intermediate lower cross-bar 8 andan upper forward end cross-plate 9 connect the U -shaped frame-plates l laterally at said points, and the plate 9 is tted with a bearing to support a vertical pivot-pin 10 upon the truck-frame 1l, which latter is secured to the axle 12 of a pair of wheels 13, which support the forward end of the sweeper, thus providing a four-wheeled frame especially adapted to support and carry the casing 14, elevator l5, and brooms l'and 17 of a streetsweeper.

The casing 14 is clearly shown in Fig. 1 and covers the middle portion and inner sides of the frame 1 and also extends upwardly and forwardly to form a trunk 18 between and upon each side of the trunk-frame 4, which incloses the elevator 15, to conduct the dirt from thebrushes to a spout 19 at the upper end of said trunk and discharge the same into a wagon coupled to the sweeping-machine. An apron 18 extends from the lower and rear side of the tru nl; rearwardly and downwardly between the frame-plates 1 and partlyaround the main broom, as shown in Fig. 2.

The main driving-axle 6 carries on each end a sprocket-wheel 21, and a sprocket-chain 22 passes under and around said wheel and also around a sprocket-wheel 23 upon the shaft 24 of the main broom 16, thence over an idler sprocket-wheel 25 on the rear vertical post 2,

'thence forwardly around a sprocket-wheel 2G on shaft 27 at the lower end of the conveyer, thence rearwardly around a sprocket-wheel 28- upon the end of shaft 29 of the trailing broom 17 ,thence forwardly over idler-sprocket 30 and rearwardly under idler-sprocket 3l to and around the initial sprocket-wheel 2l upon the driving-axle. A corresponding sprocketchain, carried by sprocket-wheels upon the opposite side of the machine, connects a driving sprocket-wheel 21l with the broom-shafts 29 and 24, to thus drive said shafts at both ends and insure an equal distribution and an economic transmission of power from the Y driving-wheels.

Spring-actuated ratchet-clutches 32 upon the axle 6 to engage with t-he ratchet-faces 13 of the wheel-hubs allow each driving-wheel to revolve independently of the other, and thus admit of the machine being turned round with one wheel stationary or allow one wheel IOC) to move at a greater speed than the other. The mode of gearing thus described is simple, strong, inexpensive, and effective.

The construction and arrangement of parts hereinbefore described secure the full tractive force of the machine, as the weight of the greater part of the machine is thrown upon the main driving-wheels.

The brooms 16 and 17 are adjustable in the frame of the machine in the following-described manuer: The broom 16 is fixed to a shaft 24, which has bearings in blocks 24a, which are supported and move vertically between posts 2 2 of the frame. A spiral spring 33 encircles a vertical rod 34, adjustable in the frame 1 between the posts 2, and presses between the under side of the frame 1 and the top of the block 24a, to hold the latter, with the revolving brush, upon the ground with an adjusted elastic pressure to allo1 the brush to follow closely the undulations of the surface over which it moves and also allows the said brush to roll or be lifted over obstacles which may come beneath it.

A lever 35, pivoted to the top rail of the frame 1, has a slotted end which engages with a projection on the rod 34 and is used to lift said rod, with the bearing-blocks 24a, shaft 24, and broom 16, up from contact with the ground when it is required to move about from place to place without sweeping. A spring-arm 36, secured at its lower end to the frame 1, has a pin 36a, which engages with the lever 35 and holds the latter, with the broom connected thereto, in a raised position when required.

The shaft 29 of the smaller broom 17 is supported in blocks 29a, which move in guide or pillow blocks 37 of the lower bar of the frame 1, and a spiral spring 38 encircles an adjustable rod 39, attached to said blocks 29, and bears between the block 29 and cap 1 of the frame-piece and admits of the self-adj ustment of the trailing broom 17 in a like manner to that of the larger broom. A lever 39, secured vto the rear post 2 of the frame, engages at its free slotted end with a pin projecting from the rod 39 and serves to lift said rod and the block-bearing block and trailing broom secured thereto by means of an adjustingscrew 40, secured to the frame-cap 1LL and provided with a crank-handle 40. rlhe brushes are quite heavy, but may be easily raised to clear the ground when it is desired to move the machine about without using the broom. The conveyer 15 consists of chains supported upon sprocketwheels 26 and 27 a, and buckets 15, secured at their ends to said chains and moving in the direction of the arrows, as shown in Fig. 2. A concave basin 41, formed of sheet metal, is secured to the casing between the frame-plates 1 and beneath the curved path of the buckets 15il at the foot of the conveyer, thence being bent downwardly and rearwardly around the broom in close proximity thereto to receive the dirt thrown up by the brush and deposit it in the basin 41, from whence it is dipped out by the buckets 15L of the conveyer and raised to the upper end of the trunk 1S and deposited into the spout 19, leading therefrom to a wagon 42, to which the forward end of the sweeping-inachine is attached. An apron 48, supported upon the upper conveyer-shaft 27b by means of a coiled spring 44, secured to said apron and secured at its ends to the trunk-casing, receives the dirt carried over by the buckets and deflectsit tothe spout 19, the coiled spring allowing the apron to yield or give way for the downward passage of the conveyer-buckets.

The trailing broom sweeps the dirt which was left by the large one forward sufficiently far to be caught under the lower edge of the large broom, and the two brooms can be operated together or either one alone, as may be necessary.

Ve claim as our invention aud desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a street-sweeping machine, a vehicleframe,vertical standards 2,secu red to the sides thereof, blocks vertically movable within said standards, a brush journaled in said blocks, rods 34 connected to the blocks at one end and to levers pivoted on the frame at the other end, a spiral spring around each rod, a perforated flat spring secured to each side of the frame, and a pin on each pivoted lever adapted to engage a perforation in the adjacent flat spring whereby the brush may be held in an elevated position, substantially as shown.

2. In a street-sweeping machine, an elevator-trunk frame, a shaft 27 journaled near the bottom thereof, sprocket-wheels 26 secured thereon, a shaft 27b journaled near the top thereof, sprocket-wheels 27 a secured thereon, endless chains passing over said sprocketwheels and carrying buckets, springs coiled around shaft 27 n and attached to the sides of the trunk-frame, and an apron 43 carried by said springs and adapted to deflect dirt received from the buckets, substantially as shown.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signed ournamesin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NAPOLEON BONAPART ,lIlLllElL FREDERICK MHLE. Witnesses Tiros. Crimen, MAUD DoNoHon. 

